BY JUDE OPARA, Abuja
The inability of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to officially react to the dismal showing of the Super Eagles in the on-going 2015 African Cup of Nation, AFCON qualifiers has been blamed on the interference of some people in high places.

A reliable source at the Secretariat of the NFF who pleaded anonymity told Sports Vanguard yesterday in Abuja that it was regrettable that since the embarrassing 1-0 defeat in the hands of the less fancied Sudan the NFF was yet to make any statement concerning the future of the coach.

Keshi and Amaju

He further added that it looks like there is nobody in charge because in an ideal situation the federation should have summoned Coach Stephen Keshi and his technical crew to read the riot act to them ahead of the remaining matches.

But a move by the board to take action was frustrated by certain quarters which revealed that the new board may not have free hands to administer football the way it deems fit even after President Goodluck Jonathan recognised the new board and charged them to grow Nigeria’s football.

The goings on in Eagles have shown that Stephem Keshi lacks the motivation to take the team to another level. Immediately after the World Cup defeat by France, he vowed never to coach Nigeria again even if President Jonathan intervened. But he, apparently, changed his mind after the many offers  that were said to be lined up for him failed to materialise. Said a football federation source yesterday:

“The situation is very regrettable because Nigeria is now in a position where we are  not sure of going to Morocco to defend the trophy which we won last year.

The Super Eagles have really let the country down by their poor showing. The NFF wants to make changes but they cannot because of the selfish interest of those frustrating them. They are not in charge of Nigerian football at the moment. That is the truth.

“The worst part of it is that the NFF seems not to know what to do because in an ideal situation the leadership of the federation should have, by now summoned Keshi and his crew to find out what happened in Sudan and to give them a mandate ahead of the remaining matches.

“But that is not what we are witnessing because some highly placed Nigerians are insisting that it must be Keshi and to add insult to an injury it was the NFF leadership that went to meet the coach in his hotel.”

The latest happening was a shocker to the new board who appeared to have understood why the Maigari board could not manage Keshi. Before the Brazil World Cup, the federation concluded that Keshi needed help to take Nigeria beyond the second round in the World Cup.

Keshi bluntly refused and the federation could not do anything. The coach was untouchable and the result were the blackmail the federal government faced with the demand for FIFA grant by the team and the defeat by a beatable France. And now the game has continued in the face of glaring avoidable failures.

Our source further added that it is nemesis that is catching up with Keshi whom he accused of always playing the boss before the NFF because of the ‘powerful’ people backing him.

The Super Eagles is rooted at the bottom of the group A with just one point while Sudan are with three points while Congo and South Africa have six and seven points respectively.